with eyes still closed, he collected his thoughts as he slowly regained consciousness.  he was lying sideways on the bed, facing right, with the covers wrapped around his body.  "was it all a dream?"  he asked himself as he recalled the events of the day and night before.  everything was fast-paced and it all seemed like a blur up to that exact moment.  the laughter, cheers, surprises and the emotion were still echoing in his mind as he moved his head a bit, trying to find out if he still has full control of his body.  he moved his arm towards his chest, where the end of the covers were, placed it outside and felt the soft material that was wrapped around him.  he still refused to open his eyes, trying to enjoy the calm silence that bathed the room as he breathed a waking sigh.  at that moment, he felt something move in front of where he was facing.  he then finally decided to open his eyes to see what was in front of him.

as his eyes got accustomed to the morning light that was shining towards him from a thinly-curtained window, he was faced with the most simple, yet beautiful person he'd ever laid eyes on.  he never imagined her to be this way.  he knew for sure she was way different from when he first met her.  yet here she was, a beauty to behold soundly sleeping just inches from him.  her left shoulder baring her smooth skin was barely peeking through the covers as he continued to observe how peacefully she was resting.  her hair was slightly blocking some parts of her face so he placed his finger on her hairline, and slowly pushed back towards the back of her ear as a smile grew on his face.  he rested his palm near her ear, with his thumb slowly caressing her cheek.  she let out a smile of her own as she was awakened by what he was doing, her eyes still closed and tilting her head slightly to let his hand touch more of her face.

their glances meet at the instant she opened her eyes.  still there was silence, as both of them looked at each other on this beautiful morning.  she held his hand that was on her face but refused to let it part from her cheek.  he couldn't read what was on her mind, but he knew for certain through her smile, right there and then, she was happy.  on her part, she looked intently at his eyes and she knew, deep inside her heart, that he too was happy.  he slowly pulled her clasped hand toward his lips, closed his eyes and planted a sweet, long kiss.  with both faces smiling, they continued staring at each other in silence as their hands were still held together, in perhaps one of the most simple, yet deepest forms of love ever expressed between the two of them.

"hi," came her sleepy-voiced greeting, breaking the silence that has engulfed them in what seemed like an eternity.

"hey," he replied back as he broke his hand free from hers and combed it through her hair.

"been up long?"  she asked, nudging her head closer to him.

"not really," he said.  "just in time to see how you sleep beautifully next to me before you woke up," he continued.

she chuckled at what he said, and slowly breaking away from the little moment that they had, she asked, "what time is it?"

"half past nine," he answered.  "breakfast?"  he then asked.

she paused for a while, biting her lower lip as she gave it some thought.  "yeah, breakfast sounds nice," she then said with another smile.

"alright, breakfast it is," he said.  as they sat up while removing the covers, he suddenly stopped, laid back on the bed again and looked at her one more time.  she noticed this and asked, "what's wrong?  i thought we're gonna get some breakfast?"

"yeah, we are," came his reply, and continued, "i just want to tell you something."

"what is it?" she asked with an inquisitive, surprised smile.

he took a moment to stare at the simplistic beauty that was in front of him, reached out for her hand, smiled at her and said, "that you never looked more beautiful than the way you are right now."

tears slowly welled up in her eyes as she was taken aback by the honesty of what he said.  she moved towards him and gave him a long kiss.  she then finally realized that this was for real.  that this would be the start of the happily ever after she had always wanted and waited for so long, and that he was that person who she will be spending the rest of her life with.